GNSS for Airport Movements Monitoring and Alerting - GAMMA

GAMMA is an advanced surface movement, guidance, and control system for airports using satellite navigation with integrity requirements.

The objective of the project is to develop and demonstrate a pre-operational Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS) which will provide surveillance and conflict detection services to controllers and vehicle drivers at airports. The GAMMA services will use EGNOS at first and then Galileo (when Galileo is operational) as enabling technology for mobiles localization with an adequate level of accuracy and integrity.

Demonstrations were conducted at two airports: Toulouse-Blagnac (France) and Porto (Portugal), to show that the GAMMA system can be easily configured to fit any airport specification.

The GAMMA project was initiated in July 2003 and was extended in September 2005 to introduce the SISNeT concept, which makes the reception of the EGNOS integrity signal independent of satellite path obstructions, hence avoiding blockage by airport structures.

Also, the terrestrial communication link is being extended to a low-cost WiFi network and trials of the complete system will be conducted at the international airport in Porto.

Three Portuguese companies are involved in this extension, namely ANA (Aeroportos de Portugal SA, the national airport operator), INOV and EFACEC.

The project completion is planned for November 2007.